What is the
role of design/designers with respect to the problems and issues that we
face in the world today. This may relate to issues surrounding ecology,
globalisation, consumerism, the gap between the Western world and the
developing world etc, or other social or political standpoints.

In view of
these kinds of issues that are currently being addressed in the design
field, as well as in the world at large, the participants are asked: How
would you define your role as a designer? Do you see design as being
able to play a role in solving important (environmental, social,
political) problems in the world? Does a designer have to deal both with
an artistic and a social responsibility, and how would you define that
responsibility? In what way does your own work meet with these demands?

Target
group:

Professionals and students from the design field (graphic, fashion,
product, urban, interior), theoreticians, philosophers, scientists and
people interested in the themes that are being addressed. Students of
the HKU, Design Academy Eindhoven and Willem de Kooningacademie in
Rotterdam (Piet Zwart Institute), Sandberg Institute and others.

Schedule
of the day:

The morning
program will be moderated by: Annette W. Balkema. The afternoon program
and subsequent panel discussion will be moderated by: Henk Oosterling

The Politics of
Design: An
International Symposium organized by DAF (Dutch Aesthetics Federation)
in collaboration with Casco, Centraal Museum and MaHKU as part of DARE
# 2 (Dutch Artistic Research Event) and as a satellite ofUtrecht
Manifest